Posts by yaddayadda

6

Could someone shed light on John 15:26,27?

by AK - Jeff in

26"but when the helper comes, whom i will send to you from the father, the spirit of truth, who proceeds from the father, he will bear witness about me.

27and you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.. though i am not trinitarian at this point, this verse seems to add some thinking in that direction to me.

jesus saying that the 'helper' comes from the father, but also that he, jesus, would send it.

yaddayadda

Jesus is just referring to the holy spirit, which would arrive at Pentecost. From then on the disciples would be especially empowered to bear witness about Jesus.

25

Is the WT looking for a fight?

by Smiles in

for decades now the wt has enjoyed peace and freedom in most westernized lands.. but the wt does not really want the easy road, they do not want to be like mainstrean.

christendom.

they need to appear as though they are different, the elect, the martyr,.

Neh, all these campaigns and proclamations of urgency are just mind-control tactics to keep a constant state of expectation and doomsday mentality in the rank and file. We can expect it to get worse as the Society gets more desperate to stop the haemorraging of numbers. It's nothing to do with trying to bring persecution onto themselves.

16

What is the re-instatement process?

by megsmomma in

jw
friends

i would like to know if it just requires an elder to send in something to update your records.

i have been very stressed out lately....thinking about my 8 year old shunning me just about kills me.

i da'd myself quite a while ago (7yrs) and i wish i could have somehow faded.

yaddayadda

This really brings home just how rotten the JW's shunning policy is. I really feel for you man. Just don't panic. She is still very young and the best thing now is to just build up such a strong bond with her that she could never cut you off. Love conquers evil, and if your daughter grows up really loving and respecting her father then the WTS dark side will not be able to overpower her. As she gets older and you sense it is starting to become an issue with her (if it does), you could tactfully engage her thinking on about certain bible principles that may make her realise something is wrong with the shunning policy (eg, the good samaritan, to love your enemies, a person who neglects family is worse than a person without faith). The shunning policy can actually be quite easily refuted scripturally (eg, the same Greek word is used for the Society's 'marking' policy as is used in 1 Cor 5 - so you should only be 'marked' not shunned. 3 John only applies to those who turn their backs on God and Christ, not a religious organisation.) So if she one day directly confronts you about it you could try and reason with her scripturally along those lines. You would at least severely dent her confidence in the Society's interpretations on the subject. I would only consider getting re-instated as a desperate last measure, if she in fact bows to the pressure to shun you. Just some thoughts anyway.

19

Were you Socially inadequate after leaving the Organization?

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

socially inadequate after leaving the organization the organization encouragedno demanded that individuals who were.

jehovah's witnesses to restrict their association to other individuals who.

also were jehovah's witnesses.

yaddayadda

It's still a struggle. Must admit I miss the JW social scene.

16

The plot line to almost all movies that come out today.

by free2beme in

jw
friends

ever notice how much every movie follows the same plot line and pattern, so much so, that you can set your watch by it.

here it is .... the introduction - the short moment in the beginning of the movie that has you listening to characters explain themselves and their past.. the point - the short moment that follows the introduction that explain what this movie will be about, and offer at least a couple subtle points that will be major in the end.

(example, a small character mentioning something they know, someone they know or a history they share).

yaddayadda

Sounds like my sex life

31

How long before the Society's growth goes negative?

by BurnTheShips in

jw
friends

it seems that growth just slows and slows.

http://home.zonnet.nl/rsingelenberg/web-images/graphs/stats_05/annualgrowth_05.htm i suspect if it was not for hispanic immigration the us would have been negative for a long time now!

i go to a spanish congregation and i hear the english bros always say how there is no growth any more.

yaddayadda

I'm convinced many JW's and even the Watchtower Society are secretly holding to the idea that Armageddon will come by 2014. Many are just grimly hanging on by the skin of their teeth as it is, and if it doesn't come by then, it will be the death knell for the organisations growth. After that they will go the way of the Worldwide Church of God after Herbert Armstrong's death, ie, shrivel up and splinter.

25

Violence disguised as comedy

by Lady Lee in

jw
friends

lately, here in ottawa, there is a tv ad for a comedy show.

it has a "teacher" in front of a 3 student class.

the teacher says that when he asks a question everyone should put up their hand.

yaddayadda

I agree by and large. Good post Lady Lee, although yes you probably are sensitized to it. I'm often dumbfounded (and annoyed as hell) at the way people start laughing at a movie theatre at just the slightest humorous nuance made during an otherwise totally serious and violent movie. People actually laugh out loud when it is obvious that the thing said or done wasn't actually intended to elicit humour at all! Actually when you look at some of the earliest comedies on film and tv, they are often even more 'violent' in a slapstick way than today.

39

How Would You Refute JW's Claim Of Being The ONLY True Religion?

by minimus in

jw
friends

since the new tract tells us "the end of false religion is near!

", jehovah's witnesses maintain that they alone are the only true religion.

how would you dispute that??

yaddayadda

Easy. "By their fruits you will recognise them" and "by this all will know you are my disciples, by the love you have amongst yourselves". JW's fail abysmally on these two hallmarks of 'true christianity' by: Their flawed two-witness policy re child abuse accusations, letting babies and children die from want of a blood transfusion, and ruining families and causing untold personal misery through their harsh shunning policy, and lastly, failing to do any kind of general Christian charity for the poor, lame, blind, deaf, and downtrodden in their communities.

36

Big changes after the new tract?

by Matt_fs in

one of my jw friends who still talks to me said this was the last tract that will be released from the faithfull discreet slave and that after the tract has been released there will be some major changes and for everyone not to be affraid.

does anyone have an idea of what this might be?

this gets me a little curious!.

yaddayadda

Oh, and the other big announcement is that the Society are going to publisher Kingdom News toilet rolls. JW's will be encouraged to leave them in public conveniences in their local community. A demonstration will be conducted at the next service meeting.

36

Big changes after the new tract?

by Matt_fs in

one of my jw friends who still talks to me said this was the last tract that will be released from the faithfull discreet slave and that after the tract has been released there will be some major changes and for everyone not to be affraid.

does anyone have an idea of what this might be?

this gets me a little curious!.

yaddayadda

The society is desperate to keep the annual statistics up, so the big changes are that field service time can be started from when you first leave your home to drive to the FS group, until when you get home. That will get about another 1 hour each publisher, so will tremendously boost the annual hourly FS stats. Along with that, it will only be necessary to actually attend a minimum of two meetings for FS month to count time for that month and put a FS report in, even if you don't actually go out on FS but go straight home after the meeting for FS. Because it's the right intention and thought that counts rather than the actual doing. That way no one will have any reason ever again to become inactive. Also, to boost annual publisher stats, everyone who has been inactive for up to five years and has not dissasociated themselves will still be counted as a publisher, because these ones need to be shown long-suffering as they may still return to the org.